Aluminum: The most abundant metal on earth. And it has no natural, biological purpose. But over the past 100 years aluminum has become a necessity for modern life. We use aluminum in industry, packaging, medicine, and cosmetics. But from its mining through its manufacture to its use, it is also an incredibly destructive metal. It’s a substance that is used to produce allergies in lab animals, and aluminum’s appearance in drinking water is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and increased cancer rates.

While environmental justice campaigns have historically focused on localized pollution issues, the National Healthy Nail & Beauty Salon Alliance organizes around the intersection of workplace environmental health and racial and economic justice. According to the Alliance’s analysis, the hazards endemic to the nail salon industry are stratified by ethnicity and gender: roughly four in ten workers are Asian immigrants, many of them of childbearing age, poor, uninsured and with limited English-speaking ability. And they are assaulted daily by invisible threats.